Bad Dreams and Good Friends
by squishy-asshat
Summary: Penelope travels out of town with the team for a case. When the hotel over books and she shares a room with Derek he'll find out that he isn't' the only one with bad dreams. (One shot (for now) the team is in this fic as well but are not the main characters.)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! So I had this idea for a one shot a while ago and it took me a bit to get it all down on digital paper. I'm gonna throw it out there now that this definitely has the potential to become a short story but if that does happen the posting is gonna be super laid back. I really love writing but I realized that when I put pressure on myself to post new chapters and what not I start hating it. If you were reading my last big fic I'm really sorry I never finished it, I'm hoping to one day. With that being said I hope you enjoy this!  
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"Wheels up in thirty, Penelope we'll need you to come too." Aaron Hotchner said with his natural stoic expression.

"Yes, sir!" Penelope said as she gathered her things.

They just caught a case in New York City. Women were being abducted on their way out for the night, to a party or night out with friends. Not only that but there were strange messages being left on their computers from an outside source, hence Penelope's presence.

The flight was short and they went straight to the police station. Penelope set up and got right to work trying to find the source of the hacks on the computers while the rest of the team went to question family members and friends, so far there were three victims. At about ten the team decided to call it a night. Aside from the small break Penelope made, finding the possible source of the hacks, no head way was being made. They had all worked as hard as they could and needed to get some sleep before doing the same tomorrow.

They got to the hotel and went to the check in desk. Aaron gave them the reservation and after the desk clerk typed a few things into the computer she asked them to wait just a second. She walked away and a manager returned.

"I'm sorry sir, but somehow we have over booked. We only have three rooms available instead of the six that were requested. Again I'm very sorry for any inconvenience." She said with a sincerely apologetic look. After being told that there were no rooms available anywhere because of various conventions they just decided to take the three rooms.

"I call dibs on Chocolate Thunder." Penelope yawned, putting her hand on Derek's shoulder.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, mama!" Derek winked at her. It really wasn't fair that he could be charming while everyone else was half comatose.

"JJ and Kate why don't you take the other room. Rossi, Reid, and I will take the last one." Hotch said as he handed out keys.

"If I wasn't so tired I'd say we could stay up and share pregnancy tips!" JJ said to Kate as they all walked to the elevators.

"Statistically speaking you're not actually tired you're-"

"It's too late for statistics, Spence" JJ said.

"And he wonders why I don't want to share a room with him." Derek joked to Penelope as they got into the elevator.

"I heard that Morgan!" Spencer said from the back of the group.

"You know we love you boy genius!" Pen said smiling back at him.

The rooms were all on the same floor. Two were next to each other at the end of the hall and the other was a few doors down. Rossi, Reid, and Hotch took the suite and the rest of the group split up between the other two identical rooms. They all said a groggy goodnight and parted ways.

As soon as they got in the room and put their bags down Penelope went to the bathroom to change out of her snug dress and heels. Derek decided to do the same but out in the bedroom.

"Which bed do you want Baby Girl?" he called to her.

"I don't care, take your pick!" she said back. He decided to garb the one farther from the window; he put on some shorts, took off his shirt, and got under the covers. After she changed she took off her make up and threw her hair into a ponytail. She collected her stuff and went to leave the bathroom.

"Is safe to come out?" she asked before she stepped out of the bathroom.

"Yes, I won't bite." He chuckled.

"Damn." She said with a wink as she came out and put her things in her bag. All he could do was shake his head in amusement, only her. She flopped down on her bed and let out a huff. Then she yawned and stretched out, her yawn turning into grunts, almost moans, of contentment as she continued to stretch out and get comfy.

"You're like a cat." Derek commented as he looked over from the book he decided to read before actually going to sleep.

Penelope just looked over at him and giggled. "Cats are some pretty bad ass animals, I'll take it. Good night Hot Stuff." She said as she yawned once more then turned over and settled.

"Night Baby Girl." He read for about two minutes more before he felt his eyelids getting heavy. He put down his book and turned the light off. He was asleep within a matter of moments. Sometimes he had good dreams, thankfully, tonight was one of those nights. His dad was there but he wasn't a young boy. It was like he never died. They were at some big party with his mother and sisters. All of a sudden from the next room over they heard a scream and then some loud, rather distressed talking. Derek, being the real life hero he always was, went to go check it out. When he couldn't find out where it was coming from he got very confused. All of a sudden he woke up and realized it was coming from the bed next to him. He immediately turned the light on fearing that someone was in the room with them. When he looked over at Penelope, talking and tossing, he saw that she was still asleep and that they were alone. He got up and went over to her. Sitting on the edge of the bed he gently placed a hand on her shoulder but that seemed to make things worse as she recoiled and shouted a bit louder. Her breathing got faster and she looked very distressed. Not wanting to make things worse he got some water in a cup and flicked some on her face.

"Pen, wake up. Penelope!" he said in a calming but loud tone as he flicked just a bit more water.

She woke up with a gasp and stared at him for a second looking worried and confused before actually coming to. "Derek, did we get called in?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"No, pen are you alright? You were yelling pretty loud."

"Oh. umm, yeah." She said reluctantly as she looked away from him. "did I wake you up?" she now looked very apologetic as she sat up. "I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about that. How long have you been having nightmares?" he asked giving her one of his 'don't lie to me let's just get right to the point' looks.

"I have them every now and again, but the past few weeks they've been more now than they have again."

"You wanna talk about it?" He asked as she got up out of bed.

"Not really." She said as she put her shoes and robe on.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go for a walk." she sighed " There's no way I'll be able to sleep now."

"I'll come."

"I just wanna be alone for a bit, if that's okay?" She looked a bit worried, like he might insist on going because it was late and they were in an unfamiliar place.

"Of course. Just be careful."

"For you, always." She replied with a smirk as she left.

After she left he went and lay down. He tried to sleep but who was he kidding? There was no way he was going to get a wink of sleep until Penelope was back and safe in bed. He read for a while and then after about forty minutes he decided to go look for her. He doubted she would go out on the streets of New York in her pajamas and all alone. He walked around the floor they were on and when he didn't find her he decided to check out the roof, where the pool was. Sure enough he found her sitting with her feet in the hot tub.

"Hey, Pen." He said as he approached, not wanting to scare her.

She looked over and smiled but it wasn't a happy smile. It was a tired, sad smile. "Hey" She then went back to staring off into the city. He rolled up his pant legs, sat down next to her and lowered his feet into the hot tub as well.

"Was it about Battle?" he asked quietly.

She just shook her head still staring off into the distance.

"Greg Bailer?"

Again she just shook her head no.

"Baby girl you're never this quiet. You're starting to scare me."

She looked over at him with a few tears in her eyes beginning to spill over. "It was about my parents. Lately it's always about them. Sometimes they're about Battle or Bailer, very rarely though. But I don't know what's worse."

"What do you mean?"

She looked away again as she spoke, looking deflated. "I mean that when I have those other dreams they're always the same. Battle always shoots me or I always just sit there and watch Bailer die without being able to do anything. But when I dream about my parents things change. In some dreams I'm just getting that call again, the one where the cops told me there had been an accident and I needed to get to the hospital right away. In others I'm there, for some reason, seeing them get hit by that drunk driver. Things like that. Not always really bad but sometimes really bad."

Derek wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him. Resting his head on hers he said "Those are the worst ones, Pen. I have ones about my dad like that sometimes."

She sighed and wrapped her arms around his middle, leaning into his embrace. They sat in silence for a few minutes just looking over the city.

"Wanna try to go get some sleep?" Derek asked quietly.

"I don't think I can. I'm just gonna sit up here for a while." She said as she got up and went to go sit in one of the lounge chairs that was close by. When Derek got up she assumed he was going to go back down to their room. However, instead of leaving he pulled one of the other chairs closer to her's and sat, reclining a bit. "You don't have to do that, Morgan."

"I know I don't _have_ to do anything." He said as he got comfortable.

She knew arguing would make no difference so she just gave him a look of thanks and got comfortable herself. Penelope could have sworn she only closed her eyes for a minute, not even. More like a second, but as soon as she opened them the sun was coming up over the buildings. She was thankful that she got a bit of rest without any bad dreams. She looked over at her friend, her best friend, as he slept peacefully. She contemplated waking him so that maybe he could sleep for at least a little while in a real bed, but she didn't want to disturb him. He looked so content. She sat and watched the city and the sun for a while. She absolutely hated these nightmares; she was scared to go to sleep most nights. What she saw in her job was terrible, unthinkable really, but what she saw in her dreams hit her in such a way that she felt even more helpless and fragile. She could leave her work at work, somewhat. She did her best every day, every case. She even helped outside of work and volunteered as a counselor. She tried her hardest to always remember that. These dreams though were just a constant loop of her worst thoughts and feelings. She never thought she would lose her parents and now it was like she was losing them over and over every night. She snapped herself out of her thoughts and looked at Derek once again. No one really understood just why her nightmares where so terrible, but he did. That brought her immense solace and a bit of peace. Just then her phone went off, it was her alarm notifying her to get ready to go into work.

"Derek," she said gently as she shook him "It's time to go get ready for work."

He slowly opened his eyes and squinted at the sun. "Morning Baby Girl, how are you doing?"

"Much better." She smiled as she took his hand and helped him up.

"Good." Was all he said. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and groggily kissed the top of her head as they headed to the elevator to go catch yet another bad guy.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you all for the kind reviews! I'm not sure if this is the end or not but I hope you enjoy it! :)** ****

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Penelope yawned as she stood in the break room waiting for water to warm up for a cup of tea, her third cup of the day after the two coffees. It was noon. As she yawned again, even bigger this time, Rossi walked in.

"Long night with your, what do you call him? Chocolate Thunder?" He asked with a smirk as he grabbed a water bottle. Just as he finished his question Derek walked in yawning. "Never mind," Rossi chuckled as he left "I think I have my answer."

"What was that about?" Derek asked as he went and stood next to Penelope, resting against the counter top.

"Don't ask. You know you guys think I'm out there but Rossi should be watched… closely." Penelope said with a mock suspicious look. "You want some tea?"

"Sure, thanks!"

They were both quiet for a minute, both zoning out in their own worlds. Penelope yawned again.

"Did you manage to get _any_ sleep last night?" Derek asked.

She shrugged and nodded slightly. "I think a little bit, I closed my eyes and when I opened them it was light so I must have gotten at least a half hour."

"Are you sure you are up for all this?" he said motioning to their surroundings and clearly indicating working on the case.

"Derek, I can handle it. I've been running on barely enough sleep for a few weeks. I know what I'm doing." She stated defensively as she turned her attention to the tea. He could tell he hit a nerve.

"Hey, baby girl I know you know what you're doing. I just wanna make sure you're alright."

She sighed and looked back at him. "I'm sorry. I know, one of the many reasons you're the best. Thank you." She said sincerely as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm alright." A second later JJ poked her head in and told them Hotch needed all of them ASAP. There was a break on the case.

The team spent the rest of the day following leads and questioning potential suspects. Penelope had found several suspects through her online sleuthing. All of them being security of some sort or another, mall security, bouncer at a club, or home security, giving them major access to the women. The rest of the day was spent questioning the suspects in custody. At around midnight, when they came to the conclusion that their lead suspect wasn't their UNSUB they went back to the hotel. Penelope had gone back earlier than the rest of the team. Hotch noticed that something was up with her, she seemed a bit more run down and tired than she normally was, so he told her she could leave a bit early. She had done all she could for them that day anyway.

When the team walked in the clerk at the check in desk motioned Hotch over. She told him that they had four more rooms available and apologized again for the mix up the night before.

"What was that all about?" Kate asked as their boss joined his awaiting team.

"She just told me they have the extra rooms we need." He said as he passed out room keys and they decided who would move where.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Derek asked Hotch as the rest of the group started to the elevators. Hotch nodded and they stepped a bit further away from the group before Derek spoke.

"I'm gonna stick with Penelope." He said as he handed the room key back.

"Is everything okay?" Hotch asked knowing something was off before he even asked.

"Yeah, Garcia has been having pretty bad nightmares. Last night I had to wake her up in the middle of one. I just think it's better if she's not alone."

Aaron nodded "You're a good friend, Morgan. If this gets to be too much for her let me know."

"Thanks, Hotch." Derek said as he turned to make his way to his room. When he got up to their room he tried to go in as quietly as possible incase Penelope was sleeping. When he got in the room lights were dim and the TV was on. Penelope was sitting in bed already in her PJs.

"Hey!" Penelope said as she muted the TV. "Did you guys make an arrest?"

"No," Derek sighed "that last guy we were talking to couldn't have done it. His alibi was air tight."

"Sorry, babe. Maybe tomorrow will be the day."

"Yeah." He said as he went to go change. When he came back a few minutes later she was watching some show about baby animals. There was a puppy playing with a litter of kittens on screen.

"I don't think that dogs and cats actually hate each other. I'm pretty sure that's a social stereotype that they've just adjusted to." She said absentmindedly.

"You're probably right, you should do a study." He said, falling onto his bed.

"Alright, I'm going to keep all the cats and dogs at your place though, no animals at my building." She teased as she shut off the television and turned to face him.

"Only if you're gonna pick up the dry cleaning bill when they inevitably go to the bathroom all over the place."

"Fair enough." She smiled before turning to lie on her back. They were both very quiet. The only sound in the room was the traffic outside and their quiet breathing.

"Are you sure you're alright, Penelope?" Derek asked softly. When she didn't answer he turned to look at her. She was sleeping. "Sweet dreams baby girl" he half whispered as he shut the light off and turned over to sleep. Again, he fell asleep relatively quickly. A few hours later he woke up suddenly and instinctively sat up. After a second he heard noises coming from Penelope's bed. Not as loud or as panicked as the night before but they weren't happy either. Just as soon as he heard her she was still and quiet again. He lay back down again, relieved that she was okay. A second later he heard some sniffling and soft crying from her. He wasn't sure what to do but his heart hurt for her.

"Penelope?" he whispered through the dark.

"I'm sorry Derek. I'm okay. Go back to sleep." She whispered back, clearly trying to sound like she wasn't crying.

"If you need me I'm here okay? I'm right here."

"Thank you." She whispered back before taking a deep breath and becoming quiet again.

Derek had to try his best not to just get up and go comfort her. He didn't want to overstep, and he knew that if she needed or wanted him she would let him know. So he laid there, in the dark, and listened until her breathing became steady and he was sure she was asleep. Then he let himself drift back to sleep as well.

Penelope woke up early again, about five thirty. As she let her body acclimate to the light and being awake she tried to remember what her nightmare was about last night. She couldn't fully remember but she knew she definitely had one. Then she remembered what happened _after_ whatever nasty dream plagued her. She remembered waking up in the dark and feeling so incredibly helpless and hopeless. She remembered she started involuntarily crying. She remembered how sweet Derek was. She thought about how hard it must have been for him to not be able to just fix it. He was her noir hero after all. She really appreciated him giving her space these last two nights. She looked over at him still sleeping peacefully. As long as they didn't get called in early they still had about an hour and a half before they had to go in to the station.

Derek slowly woke and glanced at the clock. It was six fifteen. He normally didn't sleep past five, but he was thankful for the extra time. As he came too he heard Penelope thanking someone as she closed the door.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" she said cheerfully as she came into the room already completely primped and full of color and life.

"Morning." He said as he stretched out and yawned, still lying down. "Why do I smell waffles?"

"Because I ordered waffles, and some extra fruit for you mister fitness." She smiled over at him as she brought a tray full of food over to his bed.

"You are the best, baby." He told her, sitting up and making room for her.

She sat down next to him and put a tray of food in-between them. Things got quiet as they ate, with a few comments here and there.

"I know I don't say it enough, Derek but you're a really great friend. Thanks." She said seemingly out of nowhere.

She never really used his first name so he knew she was being serious. "You're a really great friend too, Pen."

"And I'm really sorry for waking you up these past couple of nights." She looked away from him and seemed to be concentrating pretty hard on what was left on her plate.

"You don't need to apologize for that. It's something completely out of your control. If anybody knows that, I do." She nodded but continued to look at her plate. "Penelope, I get it." The way he said her name caused her to look up from her plate. She nodded again, but this time she had a hopeful smile on her face. He knew how she was feeling and she knew he did.

Shortly after they finished their food they headed into the station for another day of crime fighting. Penelope wasn't sure how much longer she could work like this. She just could not get enough sleep. No matter what she did she kept waking up with those nightmares, not every night but too many for her liking. It threw off her whole sleep schedule. She didn't want to do anything to put any one in danger and wondered how long it would take until she completely broke down and had to leave the team. The mere thought of that was unimaginable. She could never do that. Although if she couldn't do her best it just wasn't right to stay. She could always come visit. Every day?

"Are you alright?" Spencer asked as he walked up to her desk.

She didn't realize that she had tears in her eyes until she was snapped out of her thoughts. "Yeah," she said wiping the few stray tears away quickly before giving him her best smile. "I'm great, Boy Wonder!"

"Okay," he said reluctantly, her smile was obviously not as convincing as she had hoped. "If you need something let me know."

As he walked away she sighed and decided she needed to work now and think later. After some _very_ focused digging she found something that she was almost positive would help her team track down this scum bag. She immediately called Hotch over and showed him what she found. The team left within a matter of minutes to go bring in who they knew was their guy.

They came back just under an hour later with a very handsome, but eerily creepy man in handcuffs. He reminded her ever so slightly of Jason Clark Battle. Within two hours they had questioned him, concluded he was their UNSUB, gotten a full confession, and were ready to leave.

They were all boarding the plane when Penelope pulled Derek aside.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked him in a whisper with an anxious look.

"Anything. What's up?" he answered in the same hushed tone.

"If you see me nodding off can you wake me up? The nightmares are the worst after a case and I-"

He didn't let her finish but only because he knew exactly what she was going to say. "I've got you, Baby Girl."

"Thanks, Hot Stuff." She said as she kissed him on the cheek.

He took her hand and they got on the plane. Penelope was immensely thankful and a lot let anxious knowing she had her best friend at her side.


End file.
